IR transmitter with integral magnetic-stripe credit card reader

ABSTRACT

A television remote control unit including an IR (infra-red) transmitter with integral magnetic stripe credit card reader for transmitting IR signals to a remote interactive location such as a television set or a TV cable remote control box. The remote control unit permits the user to swipe a credit card through the credit card reader so as to generate credit card transaction signals for transmission to the remote interactive locations. The remote control unit can be used in an interactive environment such as a hotel casino, a cable TV home shopping network, or an off track betting (OTB) environment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an IR (infra-red) transmitter withintegral magnetic-stripe card reader and, in addition, a compatible IRreceiver and display for use in an interactive environment, such as, forexample, in a hotel casino environment, with a cable TV home shoppingnetwork, an off track betting (OTB) environment, or any other financialtransaction interactive environment.

Commercial reception to interactive environments is greatly increasingat the present time, particularly with respect to financial transactioninteractive environments utilizing a magnetic stripe card such a creditcard, ATM card, debit card, and other similar type cards. The magneticstripe embedded on such a financial type of card contains credit lineinformation from a financial institution for a particular user, togetherwith other identifying information about the user.

As an example, in a cable TV home shopping network, a user must somehowprovide credit information from a credit card so as to be able topurchase an item from the home shopping network. In another environment,a user who wishes to participate in off track betting (OTB) race trackenvironment must generally have preestablished a credit limit in orderto place wagers with the particular race track location.

It would therefore be very desirable to provide a more accurate andfaster means and method of permitting a user to directly participate inthe interactive environments such as described above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improvedtelevision remote control unit for transmitting IR (infra-red) signalsto a remote interactive location such as a television or a cable remotecontrol box.

The present invention provides an IR (infra-red) transmitter with anintegral magnetic-stripe credit card or ATM card reader, compatible IRreceiver, for use in interactive environment, such as, for example, in ahotel casino environment, a cable TV home shopping network, or OTB racetrack environment. The transmitter unit can be used to control TVfunctions, as well as transmit financial data read from the magneticstripe of the card to a receiver that is equipped to receive the data.The unit can be used for interactive games, gambling, movies, or othersuch interactive events that require payment immediately.

In one preferred embodiment, the remote control unit includes anintegral magnetic stripe card reader and a sensor which detects when afinancial transaction type magnetic stripe card (e.g., a credit card) isswiped through the reader so as turn on the power of the unit. With thepower on, the reader reads credit card information from the swipedcredit card to form credit card information.

The remote control unit also includes a keypad such that a user canenter transaction information for a particular credit card transaction.The unit further includes a processor for processing the credit cardinformation and the transaction information to form IR credit cardtransaction signals. The remote control unit also includes an IRtransmitter for transmitting the IR credit card transaction signals tothe remote interactive location.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed description when taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part ofthis specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and,together with the description, serve to explain the principles of theinvention:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of an IR transmitter withintegral magnetic financial transaction card reader according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a view of a TV cable box used in conjunction with the creditcard reader of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an alternative embodiment of a credit card reader utilizing atrackball control configuration.

FIG. 6A-6H are illustrative step by step examples of interactivefinancial transactions according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of theinvention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. While the invention will be described in conjunction with thepreferred embodiments, it will be understood that they are not intendedto limit the invention to those embodiments. On the contrary, theinvention is intended to cover alternatives, modifications andequivalents, which may be included within the spirit and scope of theinvention as defined by the appended claims.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of one embodiment of the presentinvention. The unit 10 is a hand held device, approximately 2"×7"powered by two internal AA batteries (not shown). The remote controlunit 10 of FIG. 1 includes a slot 12 for a built-in financialtransaction card reader so as to read card information, from forexample, a credit card 30 which is swiped through the unit 10 by a user.The unit 10 includes keys 14 such that a user can enter transactioninformation for a particular transaction. A control power key 16 isprovided to activate the unit 10, although the unit 10 can be activatedby the swiping of credit card 30, as will be described later.

Control SEND key 20 provides a send function for transmitting an IRsignal to a remote television or preferably a cable set top box 40, asshown in FIG. 4. A MENU key 22 in FIG. 1 is provided for a menu functionas known in the art. The MENU key 22 can transmit signals to a cable settop box 40 and provides the hand held control functions of unit 10 tothe cable box 40, as will be described. The TV key 19 is for turning ona TV such that the remote unit 10 provides a dual function control of aTV set top box (TV remote control) as well as card swiping. The CLEARkey 17 provides a clearing function and the JUMP key 21 provides for ajumping function.

When SEND key 20 is depressed, the unit 10 sends infra-red (IR) signalsto a television or cable set top box 40 (FIG. 4) that is equipped toreceive the data. The channel keys 23U, 23D and volume keys 18U, 18D ofFIG. 1 and the corresponding signals activate the controls of atelevision (e.g. channel up or down, volume up or down). Unit 10 ismicroprocessor controlled, with an ASCII look up table in ROM, as willbe described.

Unit 10 has a slot 12 on the side where a magnetic striped card 30embedded with information on stripe 32 can be "swiped", transferring thedata which is stored on the magnetic stripe 32 the card 30 to a decoderchip, which then is stored in DRAM (memory). When the card 30 isinserted in the slot 12 on the side of unit 10, and passes a certainpoint, the action of the card 30 passing that certain point triggers anopto-electric device or switch that turns on the power of the unit 10.

By turning on the power, data that has been transferred from themagnetic stripe 32 of the card 30 is then decoded into ASCII codes thatcan be stored in the memory (FIG. 3) of the unit 10, until such time asthe user depresses send button 20 on the unit 10 to transmit the data toa television or set top cable box 40 (FIG. 4). When the card 30 isswiped through the slot 12 on the side of unit 10, the user is alertedwhen the information of the magnetic stripe 32 is correctly received bya GREEN LED 24 being illuminated. If the GREEN LED 24 is notilluminated, and the RED LED 26 is illuminated, the user must pass thecard through the slot 12 again. This procedure is repeated until theGREEN LED 24 is illuminated. Alternatively, this function could beaccomplished by a television set display informing the user whether thecard 30 was read correctly.

The television set or cable set top box 40 of FIG. 4 prompts the user todepress a certain key to transfer the information stored in the memoryof the unit to the receiver of the television or cable set top box 40 ofFIG. 4. The user also is prompted to manually insert PIN (personalidentification number) numbers and the amount of the transaction indollars by using the numeric pad 14 of the unit 10.

In one embodiment, the microprocessor of the hand held device 10 isprogrammed to "time out" or turn off the batteries of the hand helddevice 10 after a predetermined period (for example, three minutes).Unlike other magnetic stripe readers and decoders, the unit 10 requiresno external power to operate, and functions as television or cable settop box controller as well.

FIG. 2 shows a top view of unit 10 with the slot 12 and IR transmittingdevice 34, the function of which will be described with respect to FIG.3.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of one preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. In FIG. 3, the IR Transmitter Unit (51-60) is a hand-held,battery powered unit which collects the user's credit card information,personal identification number (PIN) and the amount of the transactionand transmits this information to the IR Receiver Unit (51-54) usinginfrared LED's.

The 16-key Keypad (51) contains keys for entering digits: 0-9, and forselecting functions such as TV, MENU, ENTER, and CLEAR. The Keypad (51)interfaces to the Encode Logic Module (52), which autonomously scans theKeypad, detects key presses, debounces and decodes the input from theKeypad (51). The Encode Logic Module (52) then signals theMicroprocessor (53) that input is available. The Encode Logic Module(52) holds this input until the Microprocessor (53) reads the input andresets the Encode Logic Module (52).

The Magnetic Card Swipe Reader (57) uses a sensor or switch 66 to detectthat a card is being swiped and this in turn is used to signal the PowerSupply (58).

Whenever a card is swiped, the information on the magnetic strips isread, decoded and error checked. The Swipe Reader (57) sends informationto the Decode Logic Module (56) which converts the serial bit streamfrom the reader into a byte-wide stream for input to the Microprocessor(53). The Decode Logic Module (56) signals the Microprocessor (53) thatdata is available via both status and interrupt signals.

The Microprocessor (53) stores the information received from the EncodeLogic Module (52) and the Decode Logic Module (56) in RAM (54) forfurther processing. The software to control the operation of theMicroprocessor (53) is stored in the ROM (55). The Microprocessor (53)formats the data and sends the data to the IR Transmitter (59).

The information collected by the Microprocessor (53) is formed intopackets and transmitted to the IR Receiver Unit 61-64 via a modulatedinfra-red light beam by the IR Transmitter (59) using a LED (60), whichtransmits to LED (61) to IR Receiver (62), Host Processor (63), andDisplay (64).

In some instances, the remote unit 10 could utilize a DES encryptionchip 65 for encryption of an IR signal when using an ATM type offinancial transaction card.

FIG. 4 shows a typical application of the present invention in which aremote unit 10 can be used in conjunction with an interactive network50, including a remote cable set top box 40 which is connected by cable44 to a suitable TV 42, which in turn is connected to an outside cableenvironment by cable 46. It can be seen that in FIG. 4 a remote controlunit 10 according to the present invention could be utilized tointeractively communicate with remote control box 40 (as shown) and/orTV 42.

FIG. 5 shows an alternative embodiment 70 of the present invention inwhich the control function is in the form of a trackball configuration72.

The alternative embodiment depicted in FIG. 5 includes a POWER key 96for turning on the power of the television. The control unit 70 in FIG.5 includes a trackball control element 72 together with thecorresponding control keys as in FIG. 1, including the GREEN/RED LED's104, 106, MENU key 102, ENTER (SEND) key 100, CHANNEL Up/Down keys 103U,103D, VOLUME Up/Down keys 98U, 98D, TV key 99, CLEAR key 97, and JUMPkey 101. In operation in FIG. 5, a credit card 74 with a magnetic stripe76 would be swiped through slot 92 in a fashion analogous to that of thepreferred embodiment of FIGS. 1-4 described herein.

In order to more clearly describe the features of the present invention,a detailed illustrative example of a financial interactive transactionwill be described in conjunction with FIGS. 6A-6H. For purposes of theillustrative example, assume that the description of FIG. 6A-6H are inconjunction with the preferred embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-4, togetherwith a suitable display on a television set interactively and remotelyconnected to the unit 10 of the present invention. Assume further forpurposes of the illustrative example, that the system is in connectionwith an entity known as Forte Communications Associates Credit CardEntry System and that the user will be utilizing a suitable credit card,such as American Express, VISA or MasterCard.

In FIG. 6, the TV monitor screen text illustrates to a user that themenu key 22 on the remote control unit 10 of FIG. 1 should be pressed.It should be kept in mind that the remote control unit 10 of FIG. 1alternatively can control normal TV operation by the user pressing theTV button at any time.

Assuming that the user has pressed menu key 22, FIG. 6B illustrates thatthe user should be prompted to swipe the card 30 of FIG. 1 through theslot 12 (slot 12 is better seen in FIG. 2). If the card is swipedthrough the slot 12 on the side of the remote control unit 10 of FIG. 1,a green light indicates a successful read, as indicated in FIG. 6B. If ared light is indicated, the user is prompted that the card 30 could notbe read and is prompted to try again. The user points the TV remotecontrol unit 10 at the TV and presses the ENTER button to send theinformation.

In FIG. 6C, the display prompts the user to examine the credit cardinformation (displayed in the lower left hand corner of FIG. 6C) whichindicates the credit card account number, the holder name and theexpiration date of the particular user, which information had beenobtained by the swiping of the card 30 through the unit 10 of FIG. 1.

If the displayed information is correct, the user presses the ENTERbutton to confirm the information, and if not correct, presses the CLEARbutton to enter the information again.

FIG. 6D illustrates the system prompting the user to enter a personalidentification number (PIN)--up to six digits in one preferredembodiment--using the keys 14, as illustrated in FIG. 1. The user pointsthe TV remote control unit 10 at the TV and presses the ENTER button tosend the information.

FIG. 6E illustrates the PIN number information (displayed in the lowerright hand corner). If correct, the user presses the ENTER button againto confirm the number. If incorrect, the user presses the CLEAR buttonto enter the PIN information again.

FIG. 6F illustrates that the system prompts the user to enter the dollaramount of the service, using the remote control unit number pad 14 ofFIG. 1. The user points the TV remote control unit 10 at the TV andpresses the ENTER button to send the information.

FIG. 6G illustrates the amount of the financial transaction (lower righthand corner). If the correct amount is indicated, the user presses theENTER button to confirm the amount. If incorrect, the user presses theCLEAR button to enter the transactional information again.

FIG. 6H indicates the completed transaction showing the credit cardaccount information, credit card holder information, credit cardexpiration date, PIN number, and amount transaction number as beingtransmitted to, for example, a home shopping network.

It should be clear that other variations of the preferred embodiment ofthe invention are within the scope of the claims of the presentinvention.

For example, the interactive and transactional environment can be inaddition to a home shopping network, a hotel casino environment, offtrack betting system, interactive games, movies and any other type ofinteractive financial event that requires financial credit card typeinformation.

The present invention provides a remote control television unit which ishand held and requires no cord connection to an interactive location(such as a TV or cable control box), as well as control of theTV/control box (a dual purpose control unit). In one embodiment, theremote control unit is battery operated so that a user could easilyenter the required financial transaction information remotely to theinteractive environment.

The present invention is for uses where a user wishes to pay for goodsor services with a financial transaction type card, such as credit cardor an ATM card.

In a gambling environment, if a user wishes to be authorized to obtaincasino cash, the user brings up the MENU on the screen by pressing theappropriate button and follows the instructions on the screen, whichwould be analogous to that of FIG. 6A-6H. If the transaction is valid(the card is good) the user can then go to the casino cashier to pick upthe cash.

The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the presentinvention have been presented for purposes of illustration anddescription. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit theinvention to the precise forms disclosed, and it should be clear thatmany modifications and variations are possible in light of the aboveteaching. For example, the preferred embodiment utilizes a credit cardtype of financial transaction card. However, other types of financialtransaction cards could be utilized as well, such as an ATM card, adebit card, and the like. The embodiments were chosen and described inorder to best explain the principles of the invention and its practicalapplication, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilizethe invention and various embodiments with various modifications as aresuited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scopeof the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto and theirequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A television remote control unit for transmittingIR (infra-red) signals to a remote interactive location, said unitcomprising:an integral magnetic stripe financial transaction card readerfor reading financial transaction card information from a magneticstripe of a financial transaction card swiped through said reader toform read card information, card reader including a sensor for detectingwhen said card is swiped through said reader so as to turn on theinternal power of said unit; keypad means for entering transactioninformation for a particular card transaction; internally poweredprocessor means for processing said card information and saidtransaction information to form IR card transaction signals, and; IRtransmit means including an LED for transmitting said IR cardtransaction signals to said remote location.
 2. A television remotecontrol unit for transmitting IR (infra-red) signals to an interactivelocation, said unit comprising:an integral magnetic stripe financialtransaction card reader for reading financial transaction cardinformation from a magnetic stripe of a financial transaction cardswiped through said reader to form read card information; keypad meansfor entering transaction information for a particular card transaction;means for processing said card information and said transactioninformation to form IR card transaction signals, and; IR transmit meansincluding an LED for transmitting said IR card transaction signals tosaid interactive location.
 3. The remote control unit as in claim 2wherein said card reader includes a sensor for detecting when said cardis swiped through said reader so as to turn on the internal power ofsaid unit.
 4. A television remote control unit for transmitting IR(infra-red) signals to an interactive location such as a television settop box, said remote control unit comprising:an integral magnetic stripefinancial card reader for reading financial card information from amagnetic stripe of a financial card swiped through said reader to formread card information; a keypad for entering transaction information fora particular card transaction; a processor for processing said read cardinformation and said transaction information to form IR card transactionsignals; and an IR transmitter including an LED for transmitting said IRcard transaction signals to said interactive location.
 5. A remotecontrol unit as in claim 4 including an IR transmitter for transmittingATM transaction indication or PIN information to said interactivelocation.
 6. A remote control unit as in claim 5 including means forencrypting said ATM transaction indication or said PIN information.
 7. Aremote control unit as in claim 4 including a TV control key forcontrolling a television.
 8. A remote control unit as in claim 4including a plurality of control keys controlling the entry of thefinancial transaction information.
 9. A remote control unit as in claim8 including a trackball type of control key.
 10. A remote control unitas in claim 4 wherein said financial card is a credit card.
 11. A remotecontrol unit as in claim 4 wherein said financial card is an ATM typecard.
 12. A remote control unit as in claim 4 wherein said financialcard is a debit type card.
 13. In a financial transaction cardinteractive network including a television remote control unit fortransmitting IR (infra-red) signals to an interactive location such as atelevision set top box, said remote control unit including an integralmagnetic-stripe financial transaction type card reader, the methodcomprising the steps of:reading financial card type information from amagnetic stripe of a financial type card swiped through said remotecontrol unit to form read card information; entering into said remotecontrol unit transaction information for a particular financial cardtransaction; processing within said remote control unit said transactioninformation and said read card information to form IR card transactionsignals; and transmitting said IR card transaction signals using an LEDfrom said remote control unit to said interactive location.
 14. In afinancial transaction card interactive network comprising:an interactivelocation such as a television set top box, a television display, atelevision remote control unit for transmitting IR (infra-red) signalsto said interactive location, said remote control unit including: anintegral magnetic stripe financial transaction type card reader forreading financial card information from a magnetic stripe of a financialcard swiped through said reader to form read card information; a keypadfor entering transaction information for a particular card transaction;a processor for processing said transaction information and said readcard information to form IR card transaction signals; and an IRtransmitter including an LED for transmitting said IR card transactionsignals to said interactive location.
 15. The network as in claim 14wherein said remote control unit includes a Menu key for controlling thedisplay of interactive menus on said television display through saidinteractive location.
 16. The network as in claim 15 wherein saidinteractive location includes means for displaying a selected menu andtransaction directions on said television display.
 17. The network as inclaim 16 wherein said remote control unit includes means for completingthe card transaction following said directions displayed on saidselected menu on said television display.